Jill Stark

Getting her happy-ever-after plunged Jill into the darkest period of her life, forcing her to ask if she'd been sold a lie. What if all the things that she'd been told would make her happy were red herrings? Could it be that the relentless pursuit of happiness was making her miserable? From the ashes of Jill's epic breakdown comes this raw, funny, and uplifting exploration of our age of anxiety. Charting her own life-long battles with mental-health problems, Jill asks why, in a western world with more opportunity, choice, and wealth than ever before, so many of us are depressed, anxious, and medicated. When we've never had more ways to connect, why do we feel so profoundly disconnected? Happy Never Afteris a soul-searching journey from despair to clarity and a forensic examination of our troubled times. Road-testing neuroscience's latest psychological frontiers in compassion, acceptance, gratitude, play, hope, and solitude, Jill turns the happiness fairytale on its head, and swaps the 'quick fix' approach to mental ill health for the long road back to herself. In the end, Jill has a hard-earned question for us. We're all looking for answers. We all want the happy-ever-after. What would happen if we stopped chasing, stayed still, and found calm and meaning in places we least expected?

Why the Happiness Fairytale Is Driving Us Mad (and How I Flipped the Script)

Happy Never After

My Years Without Booze

Higher Sobriety

Booze had dominated Jill Stark's social life ever since she had her first sip of beer, at 13. She thought nothing could curb her love of big nights. And then came the hangover that changed everything. In the shadow of her 35th year, Jill made a decision: she would give up alcohol. But what would it mean to stop drinking in a world awash with booze? This lively memoir charts Jill's tumultuous year on the wagon, as she copes with the stress of the newsroom sober, tackles the dating scene on soda water, learns to watch the footy minus beer, and deals with censure from friends and colleagues, who tell her that a year without booze is 'a year with no mates'.

my year without booze

High Sobriety

What happened next? It’s the question Jill Stark has been asked most often since the publication of her acclaimed memoir, High Sobriety. As one of the original pioneers in the ‘quit lit’ space, Jill started a national conversation about the role of alcohol in our lives, turning the lens on her own rocky relationship with booze and forensically dissecting the culture that gave rise to it. Now, ten years after the book’s first release, she fills in the gaps on where life took her after she unwittingly became the poster girl for sobriety. In this updated edition, Jill charts her struggle to become a moderate drinker, the crippling ‘hangxiety’ that led to her quitting alcohol for good, and the ever-evolving journey of self-discovery sobriety has taken her on. Surviving six long lockdowns alcohol-free, Jill also looks at how a global pandemic tested her sobriety and shone a spotlight on the way alcohol has been sold as the panacea for all our troubles. At the same time, it helped accelerate a seismic change in the nation’s drinking habits, with the rise of the sober-curious movement and a booming non-alcoholic drinks industry proving there is a growing appetite for abstinence. After so long feeling like a social pariah, Jill embraces the joy of living life on the outer, and meets a new generation of sober rebels who are radically redefining what it means to be alcohol-free. Now she feels prompted to ask the question, has sobriety become cool?

my years without booze

"¿Cuál es el punto del éxito si no puedes darle celos a la gente de internet?" Lejos de libros de autoayuda, terapias milagrosas y antidepresivos, esta es la historia de una chica que no se sentía suficiente y de cómo encontró la manera de respirar cuando el peso del mundo parecía asfixiarla. Jill Stark era una escritora famosa, la invitaban a las mejores fiestas, salía con los chicos más guapos y sus miles de likes en Instagram le hacían creer que su vida era genial. Pero algo no estaba bien. Sufría una profunda depresión que apenas le permitía levantarse de la cama. Visitó médicos de todo tipo, probó terapias alternativas e investigó de manera profesional temas de salud mental y emocional. Se volvió una experta, pero se dio cuenta de que, pese a su "éxito", siempre se había sentido así, insegura, como si algo faltara, como si nunca nada fuera suficiente. Jill platicó con amigos que también sufrían ansiedad, le contaron su situación y la de gente cercana que se sentía igual. ¿Y si el problema no solo estaba dentro de ellos, sino en las absurdas expectativas de la sociedad y las agotadoras comparaciones en redes sociales?

¿Y fui feliz para siempre?

From Jill Stark, bestselling author of Happy Never After, comes this warm and practical book of tips and wisdom to help guide you through the tough times. This is a self-care manual for the days when you feel alone -- the days when you worry that you're too weird or broken or unfixable to be normal. With compassion, humour, and honesty, Jill offers signposts to help you findthe path back to yourself. Whether you're having a bad day, or a run of bad days that seems never-ending, When You're Not OKis an emotional first-aid kit for your body, mind, and soul, written by someone who's been there too.

Jill Stark

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